How to green your Cyber Monday

The Nature Conservancy hopes you'll see Green Gift Monday as the new Black Friday.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the holiday season is fast approaching. But, personally, the countdown has me trying to figure out what kind of shopper I'm going to be this year. My hope is to give everyone on my gift list presents that are meaningful, waste-free and unique. Ideally, each of those gifts will be hand-made as well.

But truth be told, I'm sure I will be hitting the stores for most of my holiday purchases. Since I'm not a "head to the stores with throngs of other holiday shoppers in search of deals and steals" kind of gal, it's more likely that I will do most of my holiday shopping online. Fortunately, the invention of Cyber Monday means that I can shop from the comfort of my couch, and I don't have to miss out on all of those great steals and deals.

Cyber Monday made its debut five short years ago, but it has already blossomed into big business for retailers. Last year on Cyber Monday, consumers spent nearly $890 million online.

The day and the method are settled; now I just need the sites to shop where I can find fun, festive and meaningful holiday gifts. My first stop will definitely be Green Gift Monday, a one-stop Cyber Monday shop brought to you by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The general idea for Green Gift Monday is to promote, gifts that are, well, green. The site will have great deals on gifts that make a difference, like energy-efficient products, as well as "experience" gifts (like movie tickets, fun outings, etc.) Green gift Monday will also allow users to donate to charity in someone's honor. And the folks at TNC will include lots of cool eco-tips like wrapping presents in newspaper instead of brand-new gift wrap as a green action you can take for the holidays.

For me, it will take the guessing game out of trying to figure out whether or not a particular site or product is truly green or just greenwashed. I'm still hoping to minimize the impact of my holiday gifts by minimizing the number of physical gifts that I purchase. Hopefully the Green Gift Monday site will give me lots of tips on achieving that goal — as well as lots of deals on the great green gifts that I decide to buy.

Got a great green site I should visit on Cyber Monday? I'd love to hear about it!